A FRESH wave of strikes by rail guards on Arriva Trains Merseyside in a dispute over their safety role has been called off after peace talks.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union at 12 train companies around the UK had been due to walk out for 48 hours immediately after the next two Bank Holidays, on May 6 and again on May 27.

The guards have already staged a series of strikes in protest at the downgrading of their safety duties which caused serious disruption to train services.

A much reduced 50pc service has run on Merseyrail during the strike days.

But the union announced yesterday that "substantial progress" towards resolving the dispute had been made and the strikes were called off.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, said the train operators involved in the row had agreed that the union, and the train drivers' union Aslef, should be included in consultations about changes to the industry's rule book.

The train operators had agreed to write to the Railway Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the industry's safety body, to request that the two unions be included in a group set up to prepare amendments to the rule book.

Mr Crow said the train operators had also undertaken to consult with the unions before any amendments were made.

"This means that the views of railway workers, the people who after all carry out the provisions of the rule book, will now be heard.

"Under the circumstances, our executive has called off the strike action," he said.

Mr Crow praised rail guards for showing "tremendous determination" in the long campaign to restore the full safety role of the guard.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies, which represents all the train companies involved in the dispute, said: "It is good news for passengers that the dispute has been settled without any further strikes.

"The train operators will now await the RSSB's report into the role of the guard and abide by their recommendations."

The planned walk-outs for May 6/7 and May 27/28 followed three 24-hour stoppages in recent weeks.

The RMT has been campaigning for years to restore the safety role of guards to the industry's rule book, which it maintained would improve the safety of passengers without costing companies any money.